THE DETROIT NEWS: Autocam Medical Works with the University of Michigan and Other Prominent Partners to Produce New Ventilator Device
A team from the University of Michigan has invented a device that allows multiple patients to safely use the same ventilator and has quickly made it available across the country with help from former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder.
The device, called the VentMI, is a splitter that protects patients from cross-contamination while sharing a ventilator, and allows caregivers to adjust the settings to each patient’s needs — solving two problems that have largely prohibited shared use of ventilators in the past.
Two ear, nose and throat doctors from Michigan Medicine and UM’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital conceived of the device on March 22 and obtained emergency use authorization from the federal Food and Drug Administration on April 10 — an astounding timeline for a process that normally takes months or years.
Dr. Glenn Green, a pediatric otolaryngologist at UM’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Kyle VanKoevering, an otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at Michigan Medicine, posted their idea on Facebook in mid-March.
